Hexafluoropropylene oxide is an important compound in the production of fluorine-containing compounds, since it is used, for example, as a raw material for perfluorovinyl ether. An oligomer of the hexafluoropropylene oxide is utilized as a lubricating oil, a heating medium and the like.
There has hitherto been developed, as a method for producing hexafluoropropylene oxide (hereinafter also referred to as HFPO), a method in which HFPO is obtained by oxidation of hexafluoropropyelene (hereinafter also referred to as HFP) using a hypochlorite as an oxidizing agent.
For example, there has been known method in which HFP is oxidized by a hypochlorite in a two phase system of an aqueous phase and an organic phase in the presence of a phase transfer catalyst such as a quaternary ammonium salt or a quaternary phosphonium salt to obtain HFPO (see Patent Literatures 1-3).
It has also been known that HEPO is produced from HEP when an aqueous solution of a hypochlorite is used in the presence of an aprotic solvent such as acetonitrile or diglyme.